Title
Olympia 2045 - Updating the City's Comprehensive Plan
Recommended Action
Receive a briefing and discuss the update of the Olympia 2045 Comprehensive Plan
Report
Issue:
Discussion on the update of the Olympia 2045 Comprehensive Plan.
Staff Contact:
Joyce Phillips, AICP, Principal Planner, Community Planning and Economic Development, 360.570.3722
Presenter(s):
Joyce Phillips, Principal Planner
Background and Analysis:
Olympia's Comprehensive Plan
Olympia's first Comprehensive Plan (Plan) was adopted more than 60 years ago. With the passage of the State's Growth Management Act in 1990, Olympia prepared a new plan which was completed in 1994. The plan was amended a few times over the years. In 2014, the City completed a major rewrite of the Plan, with broad input and participation by community members.
The Plan covers the area of the Olympia City Limits and the urban growth area. It addresses issues like housing, land use, transportation, parks and open spaces, utilities and public services, and the economy. It also reflects community values, such as public participation, addressing climate change, and tree preservation. Once adopted, the Plan becomes the adopted vision for how and where our community will grow and change, and be served with utilities, infrastructure, and public services. Comprehensive Plans must be updated every 10 years.
Growth Management Act (GMA)
The GMA (RCW 36.70A) establishes a framework for comprehensive planning in Washington State. It includes statewide planning goals that each jurisdiction must balance locally. Some of the primary objectives of the GMA are to protect resource lands of long-term commercial significance (agricultural, forestry, and mineral resource lands), to plan for growth in urban areas where it can be served with a full range of urban services, to prevent sprawl, and to protect environmentally sensitive areas.
Land is in one of three categories - urban, rural, or resource lands. Depending on which ca...
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